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OK, I know I moaned about food for December 25th appearing in the shops too soon, but I've just put my Christmas cake in the oven, so I'm feeling smug! In my defence, I've made it early so I can feed it with alcohol weekly, and also because we are planning a secret family weekend away for Mr D as his 60th birthday comes up this month, so it all cuts down the time I have. I have been forbidden to tell him about it! Anyway, what I was going to ask was - does anyone have any good cake recipes for those awkward people who don't like dried fruit at Christmas?

................................................................................................................................The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.

The cake I mentioned a short while ago, the chestnut roulade, was nice. Using chestnut puree (tinned is fine) for the sponge and orange flavoured cream filling makes it quite special and festive. I've only ever made it once though and that was a very long time ago. Let me know if you fancy giving it a go, and I'll pm you the recipe.

That sounds lovely. I'll have to ask the dried fruit hater in person - she's also lactose intolerant which ups the ante a bit!!

................................................................................................................................The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.

Ah, just realised you have said lactose intolerant but I will say what I was going to anyway.When I used to make cakes for work colleagues one of the most praised & requested was a dead simple all in one coffee sponge made with wholewheat flour with a filling/topping of whipped cream sweetened with caster sugar & flavoured with coffee - I always did the filling with a strong coffee flavour but not too sweet & that was what people seemed to like.Ooh, I fancy one now but I've just put a fruit soda bread in the oven.

I've never experimented, but there are plenty of milk-free substitutes available. I would have thought that the cream in either recipe could be replaced with something else. It's also possible to get dairy-free fats suitable for baking - my youngest son was allergic to dairy, so I became something of an expert at adapting recipes.

I could see that coffee cake working nicely with a buttercream topping (you've reminded me that I have a recipe for an all-in-one coffee cake which is a melted recipe like flapjack, though no oats. It sounds strange, but it make a good chewy cake which is good topped with coffee icing and walnuts. I think the recipe came off the back of a packet of something (margarine possibly) in the 60s - have never come across anything similar! May dust that one off...

................................................................................................................................The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.

I'll dig it out JG. It's in my hand written recipe book which I started when I got married 35 years ago - you can tell the pages with the best loved recipes as they are disgustingly splattered with cake mix!!

................................................................................................................................The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.

Sieve flour. Grease and base line an 8" sandwich tin.Melt fat, sugar and syrup together in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the coffee.Cool, and combine with beaten egg and milk. Pour the liquid into the flour, beat until smooth and pour into the sandwich tin. Bake for about 25 minutes at gas mark 5. When cold, ice with butter cream icing and decorate with walnuts.

This is the recipe as I have it typed out by my mum, though I slightly altered it, as she sieved the coffee and flour together. This was in the days when coffee was powder. I think it would be fine to add it to the syrup as it cools. I think you let the cake cool in the tin before icing it.

................................................................................................................................The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.